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Stigma & Dirt DISABILITY & SOCIETY:Introduction to Disability Studies Oct 9th, 2007 Week 3, Session 4: 

Stigma & Dirt DISABILITY & SOCIETY: Introduction to Disability Studies Oct 9th, 2007 Week 3, Session 4

Slide2: 

I. Stigma & the Individual Stigma Power Stigma Management Discreditable - information control Discredited - tension management -(Simulations)- II. Society & the “Other” Douglas Concept of Dirt 5 Ways Cultures deal with “dirt”

WHAT IS STIGMA’S PURPOSE?: 

WHAT IS STIGMA’S PURPOSE? Allows us to deal with: “Anticipated others with out special attention or thought.” (Who’s “IN”/Who’s “OUT”) Helps Categorize & Manage Multiple Stimuli

Questions??: 

Questions?? Does Human Society always requires an “Other”? How Is the “Other” Determined? How Can “Othering” be Challenged? How is being a DP Different from Other Minority Groups?

WHERE / HOW DOES STIGMA GET IT’S POWER?: 

WHERE / HOW DOES STIGMA GET IT’S POWER? Acceptance of the Devalued State = SHAME

Goffman: Stigma Management: 

Goffman: Stigma Management Discreditable: information control- ("to tell or not to tell, ….to lie or not to lie, …. to whom, when and where." ) Discredited: tension management – (attempts to control awkward, difficult or hostile interactions with "the normals.")

Discreditable (Management of Information): 

Discreditable (Management of Information) Passing: Objective: minimize detection or disclosure (FDR) 1. Conceal stigma symbols 2. Play down the defect 3. Distancing (social, physical, emotional)

Discredited (Management of Tension): 

Discredited (Management of Tension) Covering 1. Use of devices to cover the stigma - Surgery (Only results in Record of Correcting) 2. Engage in activities from which normally be disqualified - Being President; One handed baseball player Aggressiveness / Deviance 1. “The dramatically presented preposterous explanation” 2. “The attack.”

Slide9: 

The International Center for Limb Lengthening, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore

Other Responses to Stigma: 

Other Responses to Stigma Attempt to Directly Correct 1. Overcoming: Celebrated in Modern Culture 2. Victimization: Learned Helplessness 3. Avoidence: Isolation / Passing Hypervigilance; “The Stare” 4. Re-assessment: Limitations of “normals” Disability Pride; Deaf Culture

Gill: Differences from Other Minority Groups: 

Gill: Differences from Other Minority Groups 1. Public perceptions of Disabled People- a confusing mix of conflicting emotions Fear, Pity, Charity, Disgust 2. Stigma can be superficially linked to impairments 3. Lack of “Safe Havens“ 4. Socialized as “normal” Gill, “Divided Understandings,” Handbook of Disability Studies, Albretch, et al 2000

Slide12: 

What is Stigmatized =Reflection of Society

EXAMPLES: 

EXAMPLES What is stigmatized now that was not 60 years ago? What was stigmatized 60 years ago that is not now?

Stigma: 

Stigma Can be a very rapid process: Japanese Americans Destigmatizing: Usually a gradual process taking years / decades Our Culture Reinforces Stigma through it’s Obsession with Rank Orderings

Slide15: 

II. Society & the “Other” Douglas Concept of Dirt 5 Ways Cultures deal with “dirt”

Douglas 1966: 

Douglas 1966 Concept of Dirt / “Matter out of Place.” How Societies Groups or Deals with Ambiguous Margins. Dirt is an Anomaly - A Discordant Element Purity & Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (1966)

Douglas: 

Douglas Argues that ambiguity proves difficult: Culture involves classification, dirt is disorder, = breakdown of classification, boundaries are ambiguous or confused. There no absolute form of dirt

Douglas: 

Douglas 5 Ways Cultures deal with “dirt”: Reduce Ambiguity (Fuzziness of Otherness) by Creating dichotomies. Elimination. Avoidance Label as dangerous. Incorporating into ritual.

1. Reduce Ambiguity: 

1. Reduce Ambiguity Create Dichotomies: Disabled / Non-Disabled; Gay / Straight Child / Adult Male / Female That which Defies Classification Especially Troublesome to Society: Transvestites, Mulattos, Part Timers, Intersex, Passers, Multiple Impairments

2. Elimination: 

2. Elimination Eugenics Holocaust War Prenatal Testing Human Genome Project Death Penalty

3. Avoidance OR Strengthen dirty status:: 

3. Avoidance OR Strengthen dirty status: Ugly Laws Not-In-My-Neighborhood Special Education Suburban Flight Prisons Asylums

4. Label as Dangerous: 

4. Label as Dangerous Bodies / Minds Out of Control Epilepsy Hallucinations Disturb the complex web of subtle exchanges

5. Incorporate: 

5. Incorporate Into Ritual Special Olympics Charity / Telethons